Aurora, CO – On August 19, Aurora Public School (APS) workers packed into their school's offices to demand the school board put an end to union busting and give all workers the right to organize a union.

The group of Classified Education Support Professionals (ESPs) demanding unionization includes employees like special needs paraeducators, nutrition workers, custodians and bus drivers, none of whom are currently organized. These Classified ESP workers were given a fraction of the raise that licensed staff bargained for and are demanding union recognition to fight for better wages and working conditions in line with the rest of the staff.

Classified ESP workers have been fighting for over four years for the right to join the Colorado Education Association (CEA), the largest educator union in Colorado, while enduring union-busting efforts, low pay and harassment from management in their school district.

During the meeting of the APS Board of Education, workers stood up to call out the school board's union-busting efforts, chanting “Union busting is disgusting!” during a march from the overflow room, interrupting the school board meeting. During this disruption, many school officials and several paid union busters present at the event hid their faces from the crowd.

“Their union-busting practices have been really difficult to overcome. There's a lot of fear, but with our show of solidarity today, with the number we got out today, it’s pretty clear we have the numbers to win,” said ESP worker Marceline Corvus after the event.

A group of UPS workers, members of Teamsters local 455, attended the event in solidarity. Katherine Draken, a Teamster union steward at UPS, said, “Solidarity is the backbone of the labor movement, so we have to show up for our fellow workers, even if they're not in the same union or the same industry. We're all fighting the same fight.”

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